The Ghost City Inn, like many
haunts in
Jerome,
Arizona
lives up to its reputation with a spirit or two lurking behind its
historic façade. Originally the building was built as a boarding house
for middle mine managers, but over the years has seen a variety of
uses. Later, it became a private residence for the Garcia family who
owned it for more than fifty years. The building also served as a
restaurant, a spiritual retreat, funderal home, and art gallery over
the years.

However, in 1994, the building
underwent a major restoration to turn it into the Bed and Breakfast
that it is today. Though the building is a peaceful respite, Jerome
tourists are allegedly not the only ones who enjoy its ambiance.

Allegedly, the historic building
is said to remain home to a female spirit who is most often seen in
the Cleopatra Hill room. Another male spirit has been spied in the
hall outside the Verde View Room. Other unusual things occur at the
inn, including doors slamming shut by themselves and spectral voices
heard when no one is in the building.

Below Main Street, as
you enter Diaz Street is the Cribs District, more affectionately called
"Husband’s Alley” during its heydays. During
Jerome's more decadent times, brothels and bordellos could be
found anywhere.

However, when the town decided to be more "civilized,” these houses of
business were banned from Main Street and most relocated to the Crib
District, that was filled with numerous women more then happy to provide
"entertainment” to the many miners of the rowdy city. At one point, it was
estimated that more than 100 prostitutes plied their trade in Jerome,
with such notable madams as Nora "Butter” Brown and Jennie Bauters.
Madam Brown was known as a no-nonsense business woman and was
Jerome's first madam, owning the first
brothel of the camp in a two story wooden building, located where the
Sullivan Building stands today.

Though nothing to look at herself and
having a reputation of being able to drink most men under the table,
Madam Brown did a brisk business. She was fond of saying, "I know I'm
not much to look at boys, but wait until you see the girls. You're
really going to love me then." She would then let out a loud horse
laugh. She was right about her not being much to look at.” And true to
her word, the women that worked for her were some of the loveliest in
town. Even Nora, though plain of face, her figure beckoned to the
female-starved men of the camp. Brown is credited for being the first
to introduce Jennie Bauters to the lifestyle, who is sometimes
credited with being Jerome's first madam.
Jennie, who operated her business in what is now the Mile High Inn,
was obviously not the first, but she did go on to become the most
popular madam and one of the richest women in
Arizona.
Besides Madams Nora Brown and Jennie Bauters, other popular madams in
the city included such lively monikers as Rose Lily, Cuban Mary, and
Madam Pearl, who was never seen without a cigarette dangling from her
lips.

For those women who
didn’t do so well, or weren’t pretty enough to work in one of the more
”respectable” brothels, they plied their trade from small shacks that
lined the alley, referred to "cribs.” Both "high class” brothel
operations and cribs remained a mainstay in
Jerome long after they were made illegal, continuing to operate
into the 1940’s.

Today, when visitors wander through this historic alley, it is easy to
imagine hearing the voices of "soiled doves” calling from their long
vanished cribs. For some; however, they are sure that a number of
these "old girls” continue to linger here.

In this alley many
have reported paranormal phenomena including the feeling of being
watched, the sounds of phantom footsteps, a persistent odor of
perfume, and strange shadows that move around at night.

The life of a
prostitute during Jerome's heydays was
difficult and dangerous and a number of women lost their lives to the
men they "entertained,” one of which was a stunningly beautiful girl
named Sammie Dean who was strangled by a customer. To this day, her
murder remains unsolved. Whether it is the beautiful Sammie Dean or
any number of other nameless girls who lost their lives in this alley,
some are said to continue to haunt this once ribald street.

You can find this
area across the street from the English Kitchen, the oldest
continuously operating restaurant in the state of
Arizona.

Jennie Bauters bordello was the most popular in town.

More Phenomena

Just below the hotel
on Cleopatra Hill is an abandoned building that was once a clinic. It
was here that many of those killed in the 1917 flu epidemic lost their
lives. The building has long since had a reputation for being haunted
over the years, as numerous tales are told of former patients being
seen in the windows of the abandoned building. Further down the slope
stands the old Episcopal Church, where a white misty figure has often
been seen.

Beneath the streets
of Jerome, the mountain is still filled
with several abandoned mine shafts and tunnels. These too are said to
be haunted, especially by a miner dubbed "Headless Charlie.”
Decapitated in a mining accident years ago, "Charlie's” head was found
but his body was never discovered. Almost immediately after his death,
miners began to report hearing unexplained footsteps, seeing
unexplainable footprints, and seeing and a shadowy headless spirit.
Many believe his spirit continues to stalk the dark tunnels beneath
the city.

With all the other apparitions
wandering about this historic town, the cemetery of course includes
its own paranormal activity. Visitors here have made numerous reports
of dark figures moving about, the sound of ethereal footsteps, and the
sounds of distant voices. The old cemetery includes graves dating from
1897 to 1942.

Jerome is allegedly filled with so many
spirits of the past that it affectingly known as "Ghost City” and has
made many a visitor and resident, who were previously skeptics,
believers in the paranormal.